Christmas Markets in Whitley Bay

Whitley Bay's Christmas market has one advantage almost no other market on this coast can claim: it is indoors, in a restored seafront pleasure dome, with the North Sea forty yards away and none of it landing on you.

That is the whole case for it. A November weekend on the Northumberland coast can be genuinely unpleasant, and a market under a roof is worth more here than it would be anywhere inland.

Spanish City Christmas Market

Friday 20 to Sunday 22 November 2026, at Spanish City, Spanish City Plaza, Whitley Bay NE26 1BG.

It is an inside event. Spanish City's own guidance makes that explicit, to the point of noting that dogs are not permitted within the building because of it. So the market is under the dome rather than spread across the plaza, and the weather is not a factor.

Opening times and admission for 2026 had not been published when we checked in late September. In 2025 the market ran the same Friday-to-Sunday shape on the third November weekend, with the Friday opening at midday and running into the evening, which is a reasonable guide to the pattern but not a promise about this year.

Best for:

Go on the Friday evening if you can. Saturday is the busy one, and a seafront market three weeks before Christmas gets very full by lunchtime.

The rest of Spanish City's festive programme

The market is the headline, but Spanish City runs festive events from mid-November through to Christmas Eve, and several of them sell out early.

Confirmed for 2026: festive dining at Trenchers from 18 November to 24 December, festive afternoon tea from Wednesday 18 November, a pre-Christmas Jersey Boys tribute on Friday 27 November (already sold out), Festive Paint and Sip on Wednesday 2 December, Shoutout to the 80s on Thursday 3 December (close to sold out), and Christmas party nights on Fridays and Saturdays from 4 December.

There are also festive lunches, afternoon tea with Santa and a Christmas tree light switch-on listed for December. Most of the Santa dates were showing as sold out or nearly sold out, and the switch-on date was not published on Spanish City's own page at the time of writing, so book directly rather than relying on third-party listings.

Shopping on Park View and Whitley Road

Whitley Bay's independents are concentrated on Park View and Whitley Road, which makes the market weekend an efficient one.

For presents: For the Love of the North and Just Canny for regional gifts, The Bound Bookshop and Keel Row Books for the readers, Mama Roux Records for vinyl, Bellwoods and Escape Boutique for homeware and clothes, and Northumbrian Jewellers for something that lasts.

For the food side: Nicholson's for the meat order, Kork Wine and Deli for the drink and the cheese, Aly's Bakery and Park View Deli for the rest, and The Garden Shop for wreaths.

Our guide to the best independent shops in Whitley Bay covers the full run.

The rest of the coast in December

The three coastal markets do not clash, which means you can do all of them.

Tynemouth Market trades every Saturday and Sunday, 9am to 3.30pm, under the Victorian roof at Tynemouth Station, with over 150 stalls. December weekends are its busiest of the year and the stall mix shifts towards craft and food. Also indoors, also two Metro stops away.

North Shields Christmas Market is on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December 2026, free to get in, around Northumberland Square, with a food and drink village, fairground rides and a programme of choirs. North Tyneside Council had not published the 2026 times or stall count when we checked.

Doing Spanish City on the 20th to 22nd and North Shields on the 5th and 6th gives you two separate weekends rather than a pile-up.

Further afield

Newcastle Christmas Market runs Thursday 19 November to Wednesday 23 December 2026, free to browse, along Grey Street and Grainger Street and around the Monument, with over 70 traders and a Christmas Village on Old Eldon Square. About half an hour on the Metro.

Durham Christmas Festival is Friday 4 to Sunday 6 December 2026, across Palace Green, the Cathedral Cloisters and the Market Place, with a ticketed craft marquee carrying over 180 stalls.

For pantomimes, light trails and the rest of the region's festive calendar, see Christmas in the North East.

Getting there

Whitley Bay is on the Metro's yellow line and the station is about ten minutes' walk from the seafront. On a market weekend that is the sensible way in. Seafront parking exists but fills, and the Links car parks are a longer walk than they look in November.

What is not confirmed yet

As of late September 2026, the following had not been published:

• Spanish City Christmas Market opening times and admission for 2026
• Stallholder numbers
• The date of Spanish City's Christmas tree light switch-on
• Whether North Tyneside Council is running a civic switch-on in Whitley Bay this year, and when
• North Shields Christmas Market times and stall count

We will update this guide as those are announced.

Know a Whitley Bay Christmas event we have missed? Get in touch via our contact page.